Cross-Channel Aviation Pioneers: Blanchard and Bleriot, Vikings and Viscounts

On July 25, 1909, a Frenchman named Louis Bleriot flew a flimsy, diaphanous aeroplane across the English Channel, changing the status of a great nation. He beat his Anglo-French rival Hubert Latham to secure the prize for the first flight of the English Channel by an aeroplane. The book explores the many milestones in cross-channel flight, beginning with John-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries' first crossing by balloon in 1785. Other significant events include Pierre Prier's non-stop London-Paris flight in 1911 and Harriet Quimby's first woman to fly the Channel a year later. In 1994, Eurostar rail passenger services from London using the Channel Tunnel were launched, and in 2001, the European Commission adopted proposals for a Single European Sky. However, this has become bogged down in intra-European politics.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 240 pages
\n Publication date: 30 November 2020
\n Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd
\n

On July 25, 1909, a dapper Frenchman piloting a fragile, diaphanous aeroplane altered the destiny of a great nation. The Daily Mail declared, "England is no longer an island." Lord Northcliffe, the newspaper's proprietor, had offered a GBP1,000 prize for the first flight of the English Channel by an aeroplane pilot. By winning the prize for one of aviation's most celebrated firsts, Louis Bleriot defeated his Anglo-French rival Hubert Latham. Six days prior, Latham had made history by becoming the first airman to perform a forced landing on water when the engine of his elegant Antoinette monoplane failed during his attempted crossing.

In this book, the author delves into the numerous and diverse milestones in cross-channel flight, beginning with July 1785, when John-Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries accomplished the first crossing, by balloon. Other aviators swiftly followed Bleriot, with Pierre Prier making the first non-stop London-Paris flight in April 1911 and Harriet Quimby achieving the same feat a year later. The book will chronicle other significant events in cross-Channel aviation, such as the first mid-air collision between airliners flying between the UK and France, which led to the development of a rudimentary air traffic control system. The popularity of car ferry services in the 1950s and 1960s, and the arrival of jets.

Other significant changes were on the horizon. In 1994, Eurostar rail passenger services from London utilizing the Channel Tunnel commenced. In October 2001, following chronic air traffic delays during the late 1980s, the European Commission adopted proposals for a Single European Sky. However, it comes as no surprise that during the second decade of the 21st century, this initiative has become bogged down in intra-European politics.

\n Weight: 572g\n
Dimension: 164 x 240 x 28 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781526775597\n \n